Material Insights · Understanding the Material World

Helium and Semiconductors

Chip fabs are the largest users of helium, about 20 to 25% of world use, for wafer cooling and lithography, and about a third of supply came from Qatar, so the halt of Qatari output from March 2026, only partly reversed by late 2026, put Korean and Taiwanese fabs on rationed supply even though helium is a tiny share of wafer cost.

Helium (commodity) and Semiconductors (industry): 3 relationships.

How they are linked

1. Wafer cooling and process gas

Physical flow · Strong · Helium to semiconductor fabs

Helium conducts heat well and is chemically inert, so fabs use it to cool wafers during etching and in lithography and as a carrier and purge gas; the site rates helium 5 of 5 on criticality for contract foundries and 4 of 5 for specialty gas suppliers.

  • 20 to 25% semiconductors' share of world helium consumption, 2026 estimate
  • $6 helium cost per EUV logic wafer, against about $18,000 for the wafer
  • 17% share of US helium use in controlled atmospheres, fibre optics and semiconductors, 2025

Because helium is a tiny share of wafer cost, fabs can absorb large price rises; the risk is physical availability, not cost. USGS notes that nothing substitutes for helium in cryogenic uses below about minus 256 °C, and fab buffers range from under one month to about six months.

Enterprise types that depend on it:

  • Contract foundries: wafer cooling and lithography (criticality 5 of 5)
  • Electronic chemical and specialty gas suppliers: cooling and carrier gas (criticality 4 of 5)

Sources: Material Insights; Smith (market intelligence); USGS

2. Qatar and the Strait of Hormuz

Shared risk · Strong · Qatari helium supply reaches Asian fabs through Hormuz

Helium is extracted as a by-product of natural gas, and Qatar's Ras Laffan LNG complex produced about a third of the world's helium, all of it shipped through the Strait of Hormuz, so a halt at Ras Laffan removes a large share of world supply at once.

  • about a third Qatar's share of world helium supply
  • 2 March 2026 QatarGas halted LNG and associated products after Iranian drone attacks
  • 64.7% share of South Korea's 2025 helium imports from Qatar

Spot helium prices roughly doubled after the halt, although spot trade is only about 2% of the market and contract prices adjust more slowly. A restart at Ras Laffan was hit by an explosion on 21 June 2026; by August the complex was only partly running, with helium capacity reported at about a quarter of normal, and in late September QatarEnergy extended force majeure on LNG. Asian chipmakers were on rationed supply, some customers receiving half their normal volumes, with Korea and Taiwan most exposed and Japan, which gets about half its helium from the United States, less so.

Sources: WTOP (Associated Press); South China Morning Post; IUMI (International Union of Marine Insurance); GAPP (republished from Gasworld); Alupetra (citing Gasworld and The National)

3. Sanctions narrow the alternatives

Policy · Medium · Sanctions on Russian helium leave fabs with the United States as the main alternative

US and EU sanctions bar imports of Russian helium, so when Qatari supply fails, fabs in allied countries can turn mainly to US producers, the world's largest source.

  • 81 million m³ US helium production, 2025, the largest of any country
  • about $12 per m³ US base helium price, 2025, before surcharges

USGS notes that the EU and US bans on Russian helium continued into 2025, while six new US helium operations and a new storage cavern started in 2025. Chipmakers in Korea and Taiwan that had relied on Qatar now have reason to sign long-term contracts with US suppliers and to invest in helium recycling.

Sources: WTOP (Associated Press); USGS

For investors

Key learnings

  1. Helium is about $6 of an $18,000 EUV wafer, so a shortage hits chip output and allocation, not chipmaker margins.
  2. The 2026 Qatar halt showed how concentrated supply is: about a third of world helium stopped at once, spot prices doubled, and output was still only partly restored months later.
  3. Fabs with US-sourced or diversified helium, as in Japan and the United States, carry less risk than Korean and Taiwanese fabs reliant on Qatar.

What to track

  • Status of Ras Laffan helium output and Hormuz shipping: A full restart eases rationing; a prolonged partial outage keeps contract prices high (Weekly · QatarEnergy, Gasworld, shipping news)
  • Helium spot and contract price surcharges: Rising contract prices show the shortage moving beyond spot buyers (Monthly · industrial gas suppliers, Kornbluth and Smith Gas reports)
  • South Korea and Taiwan helium imports by source: A falling Qatar share signals successful diversification (Monthly · Korea and Taiwan customs data)

For policymakers

Key learnings

  1. Countries building fabs, India among them, need secured helium supply contracts and storage as part of fab planning, since buffers of one to six months were tested in 2026.
  2. Sanctions on Russian helium and the Qatar outage together leave the United States as the main swing supplier for allied fabs.
  3. Helium recycling and recovery at fabs reduce exposure to a single supplier and are a practical condition to attach to fab incentives.

What to track

  • Helium import sources and volumes for domestic fabs: Concentration on one supplier signals vulnerability (Monthly · Commerce ministry TradeStat)
  • New helium production and storage capacity outside Qatar: More capacity in the US and elsewhere reduces chokepoint risk (Annual · USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries)

India

The chip fabs India is subsidising will buy helium in the same world market as Korean and Taiwanese fabs, so the 2026 Qatar halt is a direct lesson for their supply contracts and storage.

Sources

  1. Semiconductors: materials, Material Insights (2026)
  2. Helium shortage update, April 9, 2026, Smith (market intelligence) (2026)
  3. Iran war halts Qatar helium output, threatening global tech supply chains, WTOP (Associated Press) (2026)
  4. Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026: Helium, USGS (2026)
  5. Korea, Taiwan chip sectors most exposed to helium shortage amid Middle East war: Fitch, South China Morning Post (2026)
  6. Qatari helium shortages, IUMI (International Union of Marine Insurance) (2026)
  7. QatarEnergy confirms explosion during Ras Laffan restart, GAPP (republished from Gasworld) (2026)
  8. The helium shortage of 2026: how the Gulf crisis hit world supply, Alupetra (citing Gasworld and The National) (2026)